Position adjustable hydrophone



June 3, 1958 F. M. MAYES POSITION ADJUSTABLE HYDROPHONE Original Filed Jan. 10. 1950 Unite States POSITION ADJUSTABLE HY DROPHONE Fred M. Mayes, Ridley Park, Pa.

Original application January 10, 1951, Serial No. 266,396. Divided and this application June 25, 1957, Serial No. 673,996

1 Claim. (Cl. 340-6) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), see. 266) This invention relates to a position adjustable hydrophone for use on a recovery vessel of the type which locates a naval ordnance device such as a torpedo, depth charge or the like, which has sunk to the bed of a body of water at the end of a practice or testing period.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 205,396, filed January 10, 1951.

Although directional hydrophones on recovery vessels have been proposed heretofore, they have not proved to be sutficiently versatile or entirely satisfactory under all conditions of service.

In recovering underwater naval ordnance devices after practice or trial runs, it has been a common practice to mount within the device to be recovered a signal generator or transmitter for transmitting ultrasonic signals which are detected by suitable means on the recovery vessel so as to determine the course to be taken by the vessel in order to locate the device. The general purpose of the present invention is to provide, for such modes of recovering underwater ordnance devices, a new and improved signal-responsive, position adjustable hydrophone which is highly maneuverable and capable of locating an underwater device with a minimum of effort and time. In operation, a recovery vessel carries the directional hydrophone of the present invention, the hydrophone being submerged within the water and producing the maximum response to the transmitted signals from the rdnance device when the hydrophone is pointed directly toward the said device. The vessel is then steered on a course in the direction indicated by the hydrophone.

This preliminary search is done with the hydrophone arranged in a horizontal or azimuth-searching position.

As soon as the course of the searching vessel is established the hydrophone is rotated through 9 to the point the response area of the hydrophone toward the bed of the water. When the signal received reaches a maximum with the hydrophone pointed downwardly, the vessel is directly over the lost torpedo and an anchored marker buoy dropped to mark the location on the surface of the water.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a mechanism for supporting a directional hydrophone on a recovery vessel with the hydrophone adjustable so that the response area of the hydrophone may be rotated through 360 to receive a sound signal coming from a horizontal or azimuth-searching direction or rotated to the downward searching position to receive sound signals coming from the bed of the Water.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein the single figure illustrates the apparatus forming the directional hydrophone of the present invention.

Referring to the single figure, there is shown a bracket 56 adapted to be attached to the side of a recovery vessel N 2,837,727 Patented June 3, 1958 10, shown in broken l nes. The bracket 56 supports a pair of spaced bearing members 57 within which is rotatably mounted an outer sleeve 58 having supporting rod 59 slidably mounted therein. Secured to the upper end of sleeve 53 is rigid bracket 61 on the end of which is secured pivot pin 62. Pivotally mounted on pivot pin 62 is operating lever 63 which is-connected to supporting rod 59 by pin 64, which pin is slidably arranged with a pair of radially disposed slots 65 formed in the sleeve (only one slot being shown in the figure). When the handle of lever 63 is depressed the pin 64 slides to the top of slots 65 and supporting rod 59 is moved upwardly in the sleeve 53 a distance determined by the length of the slots 65.

Secured at the lower end of the sleeve 58 are fork members 66 which rotatably support a directional hydrophone 67 pivotally on the pin 76. Hydrophone 67 is enclosed within a water-proof housing 68, and has secured thereto an arm 69 which is fastened to the lower end of supporting rod 59 by connecting rod 71. The directional hydrophone 67 has a flexible diaphragm l5 submerged Within the water which responds to the strongest detected signal when the diaphragm 15 is pointed directly at the signal generator in the submerged ordnance device and responds to these signals within a conical area covering an angle of approximately 50 degrees.

With the lever 63 in a horizontal direction the diaphragm 15 is positioned in the horizontal or azimuthsearching position and the hydrophone may horizontally rotate through 360 by moving the handle 63 about rod 59. The hydrophone 67 is operatively connected to a suitable amplifier, loud speaker and ear phones (not shown) located on the searching vessel, by conductors enclosed within the fluid-tight cable 72 which is brought up through a suitable opening (not shown) in rod 59.

With the response end of the hydrophone 67 in the horizontal or azimuth-searching position as shown in the figure, the hydrophone is rotated until the maximum signal is received in the head phones or loud-speaker on the vessel and the search boat is steered on the bearing indicated toward the source of the sound signals. As soon as the course of the searching vessel is established, the lever 63 is depressed, rod 59 is raised within the sleeve 58 a distance limited by the slots 65 which rotates the hydrophone 67 through to point the diaphragm 15 toward the bottom of the water to position the hydrophone to the depth searching position.

When the detected signals reach a maximum with the hydrophone 67 pointed downwardly, the vessel ltl should be directly over the lost torpedo and an anchored marker buoy is dropped from the vessel.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claim the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes Without the pay ment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

I claim:

A device of the character disclosed for supporting a searching directional hydrophone on a recovery vessel comprising, mounting means including a pair of bearing members arranged for attachment to a recovery vessel, a sleeve mounted for pivotal rotation within said bearing members about a vertical axis, said sleeve having a pair of elongated diametrically opposed slots therethrough, a horizontal arm secured to said sleeve and having a pin secured to the outer end thereof, a lever pivotally mounted on said pin and having a handle portion at the outer end thereof and a bifurcated portion terminating at the inner end thereof, a rod slidably arranged within said sleeve, a cross head secured to said rod and slidably arranged within said pair of slots and pivotally mounted on the bifurcated portion of said lever, a directional hydrophone positioned as to be below the water-line of a recovery vessel and mounted on said sleeve for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis thereon for directing the response area of the hydrophone into an azimuthsearching position as the sleeve is rotated in said bearing 10 members, and a crank mechanism pivotally secured to the rod and to the hydrophone for directing the response area of the hydrophone toward the bed of the body of water as the handle portion of the lever is depressed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,420,676 Peterson May 20, 1947 

